Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1887-07-16
A1ACHr CAPsIzED.

And TWenty-seven Women and ChildreA
Drowned-Said to Have Been Caused by
BuIIheaded Captain.
New YORK, July 1.-THE slOOp yacht
Mystery left Ruffle Bar island in Canarsie
Bay at O'Clock last evening, loaded almost
to the gunwales with women and children.
When on Barren Island, en- route for Canar-
sic, the yacht capsized and only thirteen out
of the forty souls comprising her passengers
and crew are known to have been rescued.
The party which was included in this terrible
disaster was made up chiefly of German fam
lies resident in Brooklyn and Long Island
City. The sun was Just sinking when
the passengers of the Mystery and
''Christiana' gathered on the pier TO en-
bark for Canarsie. So many of the men Of
the party showed the effects of the beer tLey
had drank that the shippers thought it best
to put the women and children aboard Of
the ''Adystery, which is a cabin yacht forty
feet long, and rates as much safer boat
than her consOrt. The woman protested
but their protest was unheeded. The ''Mys-
terry and its precious load swung OF from
the hullle Bar pier at O'Clock Inc
'ChrIstiana' was about swinging out IN the
''Mystery's' wake. Captain HeuricksOn, of
the Mystery" said in the hearing of some
of the women who were rescued, that he was
going to get into Canarsie first or blow
stick out. Mrs. Smlther, OF GreenpOlnrs
made a most earnest protest against more
sail, as the boat was behaving IN way that
frightened the women almost INTO hys7
teries. Captain henderson o., declared lil5S5
through a gale and persisted in his order
for more sail. Reef knots were unfastened
and the boom dropped Just as q squat Of con-
siderable violence struck the sail. In a second
she was on her beam ends and all the peo-
pie were struggling IN a chOppy sea. The
catastrophe was witnessed from the tug -.
C. Dean" which was then over two miles
away. For five minutes the yacht remained
on her beam and the bulWarks afforded
some hold for the engulfed people. The
struggle for place to hold onto was awful.
Fully One-half of the drowning people were
children. The mothers made frantic efforts
to get their little ones to where they could
hold onto something. One after another
they were swept off in the tide way and
bOuyed by their clothing, their hands waved
in frantic and unavailing appeals for help.
Sometime before the Dean" got near
enough to be of any use, negro put off
from Barren Island III a row boat and was
the first to aid the drowning people. AltOgeth-
eT seven lives are to be credited to his efforts.
When the Dean" arrived there were a lew
of the victims still above the surface. As
she neared, a woman was seen hoat1ngs try
ing to hold up her 4-year-Old child. man
on the guards exclaimed, My God, that Is
my wife, and dived to her aid. The woman
had already lost her grip on the child and
was about sinking when he reached her. He
had the choice of saving her or his child and
ne chose the wife. He and she were soon
aboard the Dean" but the child sank be-
fore their eyes. The TeZt grappled was a
woman who had been kept on the surface by
her stOutness. She was so exhausted that
she died soon after she was brought aboard
the tug. A child and another woman also
died after they We're taken out, but the crew
succeeded in securing five alive. The best
advices estimate the whole load at thirty
seven and the number of those saved Is only
sloOps 'sHomar'' and ''VetO'' arrived at Can
arsie having in tow the unfortunate slOOp
''Aystery." After bailing the water out of
her eleven bodies were found in the cabin
and identified. Thirteen bodies have so far
been recOYered.